Road Tripping

The car was gassed up and packed up. It was time to hit the road. We headed north on the 101. When we got to Santa Barbara we took a turn onto Hwy 154, also known as the San Marcos Pass, towards Lake Cachuma. The hubby spent many a night camping at the lake as a kid with his family and had many a tale to tell. This is the back way into Solvang so when we got to Hwy 246 we made a left and coasted into the quirky Danish hamlet.













We walked around town and had Danish meatballs for lunch. As an aspiring spinner I had to visit Village Spinning and Weaving. Whoa...Loved it...I'll tell you all about it in a separate post. The hubby wanted a pocket knife because he was in a whittling frame of mind, so we visited Nordic Knives and picked up a classic pocket knife. After a couple of hours of strolling, eating and shopping it was time to get back on the road.

We headed west on Hwy 246 to Hwy 1. Usually you connect with Hwy 1 near San Luis Opisbo from the 101 but we connected further south and it took us through tiny farm towns. It was a beautiful drive.

For our second stop we landed in Cayucos, an adorable little seaside town.












Estero Bay














The hubby trying to look pensive.













There's Morro Bay in the distance.













The pier built by Capt Cass & was full of people fishing.


























Ocean Avenue, the main street through town, had antiques stores and eateries. The Old Cayucos Tavern and Card Room was an old timey saloon and looked totally cool, but we had too much driving ahead of us for a drink. If you do stop in Cayucos to visit you must go to The Brown Butter Cookie Company. When you walk into the shop you practically walk into the kitchen and it smells amazing. They were making granola and they let us sample their three signature cookies: sea salt, cocoa, & honey. Each one was tastier than the last. We bought two sampler bags. Cayucos is a great town to get away to for a weekend.

We were finally on the last leg of our trip to Big Sur. Before we got to the turn off for Hearst Castle, we spied a herd of zebras ranging around with the cows. Yeah...no kidding...zebras. It was the last thing I expected to see on our drive.

What I did expect to see was Elephant Seals.













The elephant seals of Piedras Blancas


























I could have watched these magnificent animals for hours. We did get to see this big bully bite and chase the smaller seal into the ocean. It was a complete animal planet moment. The day was on the wane so we continued our drive north to Big Sur Campground and Cabins. We pulled into camp and soon after our cabin as dusk slipped into night.